


gaining ground

by iphigenias



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Coming Out, Heteronormativity, M/M, Patrick Brewer is Gay, Patrick Brewer loves David Rose, dan levy said no homophobia in schitt's creek and we said gay rights!, season 4 to post-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29217468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iphigenias/pseuds/iphigenias
Summary: Patrick comes out. And comes out. And comes out.
Relationships: Clint Brewer & Patrick Brewer, Marcy Brewer & Patrick Brewer, Patrick Brewer & Alexis Rose, Patrick Brewer & Rachel, Patrick Brewer & Ray Butani, Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 44
Kudos: 238





	gaining ground

**Author's Note:**

> back back back back back again! patrick just won't shut up, i tell you!
> 
> i've given this a very cursory read through because i'm moving tomorrow and wanted to post before it fell by the wayside! title is from paul kelly. workskins once again appropriated from [CodenameCarrot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CodenameCarrot/pseuds/CodenameCarrot). turning on creator's style is recommended!

The first time David comes over it’s three weeks since they started—whatever this is, and Patrick’s hands are sweaty when he wipes them on his jeans in Ray’s kitchen, making risotto with a little too much white wine. David’s leaning against the counter, scrolling through his phone, wearing the sweater he wore to their first date and looking like a Michelangelo, all soft curves and sweeping lines. Patrick sets the lid over the simmering pot and slides against the counter to meet David, hip checking him so David looks up and Patrick can steal a kiss.

“You taste like chardonnay,” David says against his mouth and he’s smiling, and Patrick’s chest aches.

“Mm.” He shifts back from David, crossing his arms. “And _you_ taste like the honeycomb we just stocked.”

“I was _sampling_ the _product_.” David looks at Patrick, then at the ceiling, then back again. “Okay. Maybe I had two or three pieces more than was necessary. Four or five.”

“Mmhm.” Patrick leans forward again, settling his hands on David’s hips the way he knows they fit there. He kisses David again. “You’re sweet.” 

David huffs, rolls his eyes, but drapes his arms around Patrick’s neck all the same. “I’m listening,” he smiles, and it knocks Patrick’s knees right out from under him.

They’re kissing again when the front door opens. Patrick registers it only distantly, David broad and laughing beneath his hands. He should check on the risotto, but then David moves from his mouth to his jaw, and Patrick forgets why. David’s good at doing that.

“Well aren’t you two the perfect couple!”

Ray’s voice startles Patrick so bad he jumps back from David and plants his hand in the sink, thankfully free of sharp objects but full of dishwater. “I’m happy to offer you a discount on my couples photography session even though the deal technically ended an hour ago!”

“Um, thanks, Ray,” Patrick says, shaking the suds from his sleeve. David has a hand pressed over his mouth and is looking steadfastly at the countertop, which must be killing him, because it’s Formica. “I think we’ll pass, though.”

“Let me know if you change your mind!” Ray bustles to the pantry and removes a Tupperware of day-old cornbread. “I’m very honoured you trusted me with this, Patrick. Also your risotto is boiling over. Ciao!”

Patrick blinks. David steps around him and removes the lid from the rice, waiting until Ray’s disappeared up the stairs before speaking. “So I can see why you haven’t had me over before.”

“It’s not ideal,” Patrick admits. “But I’m glad he, um. Is fine. With this.”

David takes the risotto off the heat and steps forward to bracket Patrick in. His big hands come to rest on Patrick’s shoulders, rubbing them comfortingly. “I’m glad too,” he says, and kisses Patrick as their dinner cools.

Later, once David’s driven home, Patrick knocks at the doorframe of Ray’s bedroom. “Sorry about earlier,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. Ray is sitting on his duvet, eating ice cream and watching _Gilmore Girls_ on his laptop. “Thanks for being cool with it, or whatever.”

Ray pauses the episode. “Of course!” he smiles. “Let me know if you ever need relationship advice, I renewed my marriage counsellor certification last month.”

“Um, thanks, Ray.”

“And let me know when David comes over again! We should all have dinner together.”

“ _Thanks_ , Ray.”

*

“So, like, I _know_ David will tell me the truth, which is super-duper what I _don’t_ want right now.”

Patrick glances up from the spreadsheet he’s working on. “Hi, Alexis,” he says, watching as she flits around the store, picking up three separate organic moisturisers and putting them down again. “What’s the problem?”

“So, like, not a _problem_ per se.” She’s looped around the floor and boosts herself up on the counter. Patrick saves his changes and closes the laptop, stepping around the register so he can see her face. “I’m going out with Twy tonight to pick up some guys, and I could really use a second opinion on my outfit.”

“That’s not really my forte.”

“Like, _I know that_ , Patrick. I’m not looking for the fashionable gay guy stereotype. I just need someone who’ll like, back me up? And you’re super good at that with David, so.”

Alexis glances up from her phone when Patrick doesn’t respond. “Did I break you? Ugh, David will kill me.”

“No, it’s—” Patrick’s voice is dry when he does speak, and he clears his throat to continue. “I’m fine. Go on?” Except Alexis is still looking at him and her eyes are narrowed the way they are when she’s reading her textbook and _fuck_ , Patrick’s hands are shaking. He jams them into his pockets.

“Was that the first time someone’s called you gay?” she asks, and Patrick presses his lips together. “Oh, button.” Alexis slides off the counter and pulls him into a hug. She smells like coconut shampoo and the motel detergent David uses. “I shouldn’t have assumed,” she continues, pulling back and wiping under her eyes.

“No.” Patrick looks at his shoes. “You were right.” When he looks up again Alexis is smiling at him.

“Well, duh,” she says, and boops his nose. “ _Love_ that for you.”

She scoots back up on the counter, looking at her phone again to give Patrick time to collect himself. He sniffs quietly and leans against her knees. “Show me the outfit?” he asks. Alexis grins and swipes to her gallery.

*

Rachel’s in room 3, and the curtains are drawn when she invites Patrick inside. Her bag is open but unpacked on the bedspread and she’s digging her nails into her palms the way she always does when she’s nervous. “So I guess we’re not getting back together, huh,” she says, and her voice trembles but doesn’t break.

Patrick drops into a chair. “Not this time, Rach.” She nods and sits on the edge of the bed. “I’m so sorry.” The words spill out of him, a burst dam. “I’m so fucking sorry. I feel so— _stupid_ , like I’ve wasted— _fifteen years_ , God.” He splays his palms over his knees and stares hard at the reddened knuckles like they’ll give him some kind of answer to the boiling in his gut. “You deserved better, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s not like I.” Rachel stops, clears her throat. When Patrick looks at her, her eyes are wet. “It’s not like I gave you much room to breathe. To—choose.”

“Rach…”

“No, I.” She shakes her head. “I think I knew, at least, the last couple times. That you didn’t—that the way _I felt_ , wasn’t—” She laughs, a hollow sort of sound that echoes. “I wanted things to be perfect so badly I didn’t stop and think about why they weren’t.” The words sit right in Patrick’s chest.

“Yeah,” he says. Rachel doesn’t speak for a moment. They’re sitting facing each other, close enough Patrick could knock their feet together if he wanted to, so he does. Rachel gives another small laugh and knocks his right back.

“I’m happy you’re happy,” she says when he leaves, ten minutes later with a promise to call home soon. “It’s been a goddamn long time, Brewer.” When she hugs him the contours of her body feel familiar, ones he learned a lifetime ago. He’s not afraid of them anymore.

*

Stu leans over the seat next to Patrick and rests an elbow on his shoulder. “Man, your girlfriend has you _whipped_.”

It’s February, and Patrick is at a tax seminar he wishes he hadn’t signed up for. He misses David. When he left yesterday morning, he’d swung round the store and kissed David against the stockroom shelves until his watch reminded him he was already very, very late. “I love you,” he’d said, just to see the smile it put on David’s face, then kissed him again for good measure.

As he was walking to the car, his phone buzzed with a text.

David ❤️  
  
**David:** i love u too  
  


Patrick sent a ❤️ in reply and drove the whole four hours with a smile on his face.

He met Stu in the intro session yesterday afternoon. They’d bonded over the Jays and Excel shortcuts. Patrick learned a lot about Stu’s girlfriend, Stephanie, who owned a cat called Todd and approximately thirty indoor succulents. Frankly, she sounded too good for Stu altogether.

This morning they’re in a GST lecture that’s actually kind of important and Patrick _was_ taking notes, he really was, but there were four notifications from David when he glanced at his phone and what’s he supposed to do, not look at them?

David ❤️  
  
**David:** alexis came into the store this morning looking for u and turned right back around when i told her it was just me in today  
  
**David:** the AUDACITY  
  
**David:** how dare my sister want to spend time with her brothers boyfriend and not u know HER BROTHER  
  
**David:** all this to say i miss u hope u regret ur extremely practical business decision xoxo  
  


Patrick’s typing out his response ( **Funny, I was just thinking how I really wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend’s sister** ) when Stu leans over. “Um yeah,” he says, swallowing around the monumental lump in his throat. “It’s my boyfriend, actually.”

“Oh, cool.” Stu leans back in his seat and Patrick takes three deep breaths before looking back at his phone.

David ❤️  
  
**Patrick:** Funny, I was just thinking how I really wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend’s sister  
  
**David:** ur not as funny as u think u are  
  


Patrick hides a smile as he replies.

David ❤️  
  
**Patrick:** That's not what Alexis said  
  
**David:** shouldnt u be studying?  
  
**Patrick:** my boyfriend is very distracting  
  
**David:** i try  
**David:** ❤️  


*

They have Patrick’s parents over for breakfast the morning after the party. Patrick makes the bed as neatly as he possibly can, and David only teases him about it once. “Honey,” David says, and that’s when Patrick knows he’s a mess, “the hard part is over, okay? They love you and they love me, obviously. It’ll be fine.”

Patrick turns in David’s arms and kisses him, firm and close-mouthed, pressing his body tip to toe into David’s like he could crawl right inside. “I love you,” David says first when they break apart, and it trips Patrick’s heart sideways.

There’s a knock on the door. “I love you too,” Patrick says and fuck, thin walls, his parents definitely heard that. David squeezes his shoulders and steps further into the kitchen to offer the courtesy of privacy.

“Hi, Mom, Dad.” Patrick hugs them as they step inside.

“Nice place, son,” Clint says, and Patrick laughs.

“It’s not the greatest, I know. But it does the job for now, until.” He glances at David, who is busy at the stove top monitoring the pancakes. “You know.”

When Patrick looks at David again Marcy is standing by his side, spatula in hand as she shows David the perfect pancake flip. David meets Patrick’s eyes over the top of his mom’s hand and gives such a genuine, instinctive smile Patrick’s heart sunbursts.

Over breakfast they talk about the store and _Cabaret_ , and the repairs Patrick’s uncle is helping with back at home. “Clint and I are hopeless with that sort of thing,” Marcy explains. “Too many years spent in an office. Patrick was always picking up a thing or two, though.”

“Oh I know,” David smiles.

And then, somehow, they’re talking about their first date. “And then he _thanked_ me,” David says, squeezing Patrick’s knee under the table.

Marcy looks between them. “For what?”

David hesitates, and Patrick drops his own hand on top of the one on his knee, lacing them together. “For taking the step I couldn’t,” he says, looking at David, who is looking back. “I didn’t realise, for a long time, what I felt for David. But then I did, and it didn’t make sense, because I’d never—” David squeezes their hands, encouraging. “But he made everything okay,” he continues, echoing his words from last night. “He makes everything okay.” And all of a sudden it doesn’t feel weird, or strange, or awkward to be sitting with his boyfriend across the table from his parents who didn’t even know he was gay this time yesterday. Patrick bridges the gap between their seats and presses a kiss to David’s temple, the way he used to do with Rachel, only this time it’s unconscious, almost—a reflex. The natural progression of the sentence. David is definitely blushing when he pulls away.

“My sweet boy,” Marcy says, and now Patrick’s blushing, too.

She says it again when they leave just before midday, whispered into Patrick’s hairline when she kisses him. She does the same to David. Clint hugs them both, and tells David he likes his sweater.

It’s the best birthday Patrick’s ever had.

*

A potential vendor in Elmdale asks Patrick out when he visits to pitch her the store. She has curling hair and a warm smile and a way with ceramics that should be on exhibit at the MoMA. “Wouldn’t want to jeopardise the vendor-business relationship,” Patrick tells her, half a joke, half a product of the pounding of his heart. She starts to reply but Patrick—thankful David isn’t here to see this, then abruptly mad at himself for even thinking that—interrupts. “Um, I don’t know why I led with that. I’m gay.” He’s gotten better at it not sounding like a question.

The vendor laughs, then apologises, and follows David on Instagram. Patrick kisses his apology into David’s clavicle that night.

A tourist comes into the store one slow afternoon, and spends forty-five minutes talking to Patrick about their organic tea selection. David watches from behind the register, glancing at his phone every time Patrick turns to look. She ends up buying seventy dollars’ worth of loose leaf and asks for a receipt and Patrick’s number. “I’m flattered,” he says, ignoring the way David’s mouth curls at the ends. “But I don’t think you’ve met my fiancé?”

When Patrick books a couples massage at Crystal Elms he has to correct the receptionist. He gets a spam text from Red Cross asking for donations and has to make a call. He makes David get Facebook for the store and updates both their relationship statuses because he can, because he’s friends with his aunt Shirley and the guys from the LAX team and Stu’s girlfriend Stephanie, and Ryan-from-econ comments **lol**. Patrick blocks him.

 **Proud of my boys!** his mom comments.

 **Hi patrick , thought you got together months ago Roland** **P.s. eta on Applesauce? ??**

*

They’re lying in bed together when David burrows close and peeks his head towards Patrick’s laptop screen. “Why are you looking at floral shirts,” he enunciates as brutally as possible and Patrick sighs, shuts the screen. He turns to face David.

“I was thinking about changing things up a little.” He wiggles against the sheets. “Keep it interesting.”

“You are interesting,” David frowns. “But, um. If this is like, something you want.” He swallows audibly. “I support you.”

“I’m not going to buy a floral shirt, David.”

“Oh thank God.” Patrick laughs and leans over to kiss him, brushing the hair from his forehead. David kisses back, the way he always does: steady, sure as the tide. Patrick wants this forever.

“I don’t know,” he says after a while. “I just thought. If I dressed more,” here he gives another wiggle, “then it wouldn’t be so easy.”

David shifts his head on the pillow. “So easy to what?”

“To assume.” David’s frowning again, and Patrick wants to reach over and smooth out all the lines from his face, scrape away the worry and the hurt and carry it away for good.

“There’s nothing wrong with the way you dress.” David reaches out, palms Patrick’s shoulder. “I love your clothes.”

Patrick kisses David’s wrist. “Even my jorts?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” David replies. Patrick kisses his elbow. “All I’m _saying_ is, if changing things up is what you want because it feels right to you, then go for it. But if it’s what you _think_ you want because you think it’s what you _should_ want to wear, then maybe don’t bust out the paisley just yet.”

Patrick kisses David’s eyebrow. “I followed maybe half of that,” he admits, and David sighs but submits to a kiss anyway. They shift apart again. “I know what you mean, though. I like my clothes too. Especially the jorts.”

“Why am I marrying you again?”

“Because you love me.”

“Hm.” David lies back against the pillows, lets Patrick crawl over and straddle him. “I think I might need some convincing.”

“Oh you think so?” Patrick swallows David’s _mmhm_ , and convinces him.

*

They get married for real at the Elmdale Country Registry, three days after their wedding. Patrick is wearing his nicest button-down. David’s in those pants Patrick _loves_.

Patrick called ahead, yesterday. Asked for some extra paperwork. David blinks down at the sheet. He blinks again. “Are you sure?” he asks, and if Patrick lives one thousand lifetimes he hasn’t lived long enough to make sure everyone from David’s past who’s ever made him feel vulnerable and alone and unsure pays for what they’ve done.

“Second easiest decision of my life,” Patrick replies as David catches his gaze and holds it. He signs the paperwork.

“You’re not worried people will assume—”

“Don’t knock assumptions, David. They’re not all bad.”

“Mm. What is it they say again?”

“Something something ass something,” Patrick replies. “Maybe—” _I need a refresher_ , he starts to say, but then David is kissing him, and kissing him, and kissing him, and it feels like the first time.

**Author's Note:**

> yes the paperwork is a change of name certificate :-)
> 
> i'm @[svnsvstvrk](https://twitter.com/svnsvstvrk) on twitter


End file.
